Description

VVVVVV is a platformer brought back to the aesthetics of those in the eighties, with a basic colour palette and a limited set of controls. Players command Veridian, whose space ship hits an interference and is about to crash. The entire crew is evacuated quickly, but a few crew members remain. Due to a teleporter malfunction they have been be moved to random locations on the ship. It is up to Veridian to restore all teleporters and find back the five missing crew members: Violet, Vitellary, Vermillion, Verdigris and Victoria ... hence the game's title.

The game is entirely built around a gravity-flip mechanism. Next to moving around, the only other main ability Veridian has, is to flip gravity force 180 degrees, enabling him to switch between moving on the ground and upside-down on the ceiling. Most of the areas feature a combination of spikes, platforms and different moving objects and enemies that require a quick succession of movement and gravity flipping, demanding quick timing from the player.

The path to explore the space station is not linear. Any of the crew members can be tracked down right away and difficult sections can be abandoned to explore later. Once different teleporters have been found, Veridian can quickly move between faraway sections of the space station using a map. The game requires a lot of trial and error to progress, but it offers an unlimited amount of continues and regular checkpoints.

Next to the main objective there are also 20 hidden trinkets to collect, which open up new game modes. These include time trials, intermissions, a game mode where the game needs to be played without dying once, a flip mode where the entire game is flipped vertically, and a secret laboratory.

Later levels introduce new difficulties such as looping screens, beams that bounce the main character around, moving screens with spikes at the sides, sequences where Veridian needs to survive in a closed section of the level, and a part where another character needs to be guided around with indirect control over his movement. There are also terminals that provide information, logs and activate events. Each room also has a unique name and there is a soundtrack of chiptune music.

The later released 3DS version has 18 user-created levels, but the level editor is not included for the handheld release. There are however 3D effects and some music is reinterpreted.

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Trivia

1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die

VVVVVV is mentioned in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by Tony Mott

Development

The initial game design, especially the movement, was based on the prototype Sine Wave Ninja, created by Terry Cavanagh for the Glorious Trainwreck website's Klik of the Month. Visuals were inspired by Monty on the Run and the Dizzy games.